I hope you have checked out the new TeawareArtisan subforum located under TeaCommunity. Several artisans of teaware have already been keeping it lively and interesting. So today, do you have a type of teaware to recommend they create and what would it be?

jazz88 wrote:I said: a unique or perhaps avant garde teapot. Really curious if there would be anyone else with such preferences?

No tea yet.

Oh, you artsy types and your cutting-edge ways! Making the rest of us scratch our heads! ;D

Cory has one teapot that had me doing just that, actually - it looks sorta like Aladdin's lamp was in a horrific accident. Yet, I am still drawn to it, it has this interestingly approachable texture and is kind of whimsical Art is in the what?

I am equally drawn to the traditional pots (like Chen's) and the unique ones. There is beauty all along the spectrum

I don't want to speak for potters as a whole, but I find it actually refreshing to work on a new forms. It's very easy to fall into a rut of executing the same design over and over again. New pieces, for me, provide freedom and new problem solving opportunities.

My one hold-up for making more different types of teaware is that I don't yet fully understand their use. I would love to make a chawan, but have never had matcha nor seen a tea ceremony. Once I start having those experiences, I feel I will be ready to move on to those forms. For example, now that I am using a gaiwan daily and understand its function, I feel comfortable enough to create my own interpretation of the form.

With that said, I do love working with people to try to create a piece that fits their functional and aesthetic needs, as well being a fair representation of my working style.

Aphroditea -- $$ makes the world go round, but a lot of potters (me included) will trade goods/services for our wares.

Thanks again, TeaChatters, for being so open to this type of discussion. I am certainly learning much much more about tea every day!

jazz88 wrote:I said: a unique or perhaps avant garde teapot. Really curious if there would be anyone else with such preferences?

I would have to agree with you jazz! Allowing the artist to be as creative and innovative as 'he' desires would be alright with me!

chicagopotter wrote:I don't want to speak for potters as a whole, but I find it actually refreshing to work on a new forms. It's very easy to fall into a rut of executing the same design over and over again. New pieces, for me, provide freedom and new problem solving opportunities.

With that said, I do love working with people to try to create a piece that fits their functional and aesthetic needs, as well being a fair representation of my working style.

That's the sign of a true artist! Love it! I am a florist and I just get into it when someone gives me basics and says "Do Your Thing!"

Thanks for being part of our forum and for all the interaction with us Chris!

While the artisans are the ones with the ability to create beautiful teaware, it is also often beauty in the eyes of the beholder that is equally important.

chamekke wrote:I'd like to see more western potters making yunomi - especially thin-walled yunomi that are of modest height. (When I do find "western yunomi", they are often heavy, thick-walled and HUGE - like big coffee mugs with the handle removed.)

Am especially partial to yunomi with white interiors so that the colour of the tea can be appreciated. But that's just me

Not sure I could say it any better tbh. So, what she said X2! However, I am always keen on kyusu-s too!

Good to see you Chamekke!

Began the TD with a perfect session of Kirameki asamushi shincha from O-Cha. SweeTea showed good taste as usual. The TeaTable was over crowded today with Lil Bit (not little), Pyrit, Koi, Wulong, and TEAh.

All of the above? For voting's sake, I went with a fair cup/pitcher, because I don't own one yet. I would definitely leave the details of its creation up to the potter, though -- that's how amazing things happen. <3 pottery.

chicagopotter wrote:My one hold-up for making more different types of teaware is that I don't yet fully understand their use. I would love to make a chawan, but have never had matcha nor seen a tea ceremony. Once I start having those experiences, I feel I will be ready to move on to those forms.

You might consider asking a tea ceremony teacher if she would be willing to give you a few lessons - or at least, to attend an event as a guest and then have the chance to hold the various utensils afterwards. I know there's a tea ceremony group of the Urasenke school in Chicago.

My tea sensei once invited a potter to take some lessons so that she (the potter) would have a better idea from experience of what was needed in each utensil. This immediately helped her understand why no one was buying her mizusashi-s (cold-water jars) until then - they were all super-heavy and the lids were too narrow for the tea ladle! But once the potter herself had learned to carry a (filled) mizusashi into the tearoom in the prescribed way, to kneel and set it down and pick it up again, she could appreciate why mizusashi tend to be lightweight. Plus, when she had the chance to ladle out some water using the traditional bamboo ladle, she could also see why the mizusashi needs to be wide-mouthed

I voted for a traditional teapot because I'd love to have a smaller pot to try gongfu. My current pot has a pretty good pour for it's size but there's no way I can drink more than a couple of infusions from it at once...so I go less leaves, more time and less infusions.